9 out of 10 strokes are preventable by minimizing risk factors

Stroke is sometimes called a “brain attack” because what usually occurs is similar to what happens during a heart attack. In the most common form of stroke, an obstruction blocks flow in a blood vessel that supplies the brain.

A fatty deposit on blood vessel walls often gets the obstruction started. Blood clots can then form at the site of the deposit and make the obstruction worse.

Clots also can form elsewhere in the body, break free and migrate through the circulatory system toward the brain, where they can cause a stroke.

Strokes from clots (ischemic strokes) account for 87% of strokes. They also occur when a blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into the brain (hemorrhagic strokes).

RISK FACTORS AND PREVENTABLE WAYS

1. Your family tree

The stroke risk: If your father, mother, brother or sister already has had a stroke, your risk of stroke is one-third higher.

Reduce it: You can’t change your genes, so do everything you can to change bad lifestyle habits.

2. Smoking

The stroke risk: Smoking damages cells that line blood vessels, thickens and narrows arteries and encourages the formation of clots.

It also boosts blood pressure, lowers HDL (“good”) cholesterol and raises triglycerides — all of which can make strokes more likely.

Reduce it: Avoid all tobacco smoke — both your own and other people’s.

3.  Multiple drinks

The stroke risk: Heavy drinking is associated with unhealthy changes in blood pressure and can make blood clots more likely.

In fact, alcohol may raise stroke risks even higher than other cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged heavy drinkers. Their risks are 34% higher than those of light drinkers, according to research in the January 2015 American Heart Association journal Stroke.

Reduce it: Men should have no more than one to two drinks per day; women should have no more than one. A single drink is at most 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of liquor.

4.  Excess weight

The stroke risk: Having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher boosts cardiovascular risks, according to the National Stroke Association. These include:

·         High blood pressure

·         Insulin resistance

·         High triglycerides

Weight-related risks tend to occur together in metabolic syndrome — which is a cluster of these and other conditions — and stroke is one of the key dangers of having it.

Reduce it: Losing as little as 10 pounds can significantly reduce stroke risk factors, such as lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol levels.

5. Lack of exercise

The stroke risk: A sedentary lifestyle increases your risk for stroke and a lot of the factors that contribute to it.

In fact, inactive people are 20% to 25% more likely to have a stroke than those who are moderately or highly active, according to a 2015 review of past studies published in the journal Stroke.

Reduce it: Get 30 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking or biking, at least five days a week.

6.  High blood pressure

The stroke risk: High blood pressure may be the single most important treatable risk for stroke.

That’s because too much pressure inside blood vessels can damage their inner lining. That in turn can make artery walls thick and stiff, which can contribute to blockages and clots that lead to ischemic stroke.

Reduce it: High blood pressure has no symptoms, so you won’t know you have it unless you get it checked.